


Mooncakes and Romance

by fujoshism (fancypineapple)



Series: Mooncakes Series [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, OT12 EXO, References to the manga Soil (2003) which might cause discomfort to some (myself included), old fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 15:02:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9446693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancypineapple/pseuds/fujoshism
Summary: [Originally posted in November 19, 2013]Luhan comes back from a trip to China, and he brings some gifts for Minseok. Mooncakes. A huge pile of them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is an old fic i originally posted on my lj fic comm, fujoshism, back in 2013. it was originally written which straight quotes instead of curly ones & it'd be a pain to change it now so pls forgive.

Luhan comes back from China.

That's a bit hard to guess at first, though, and for about half an hour the pyramid of mooncakes in the dorm's living room remains unexplained. It's tall, almost as tall as the ceiling, and it appeared overnight as if it had been summoned. Tao has read enough horror mangas to fear finding the heart of a hamster atop of it, and refuses to enter the living room. Only Luhan knows the truth about the mysterious monument.

"Hi guys," he greets cordially when he wakes up to find his bandmates around the mooncake mountain, completely flabbergasted. "Don't eat these cakes, okay? They're for Minseok."

"... by the way, where is he?" Joonmyun asks, noticing the absence of their friend.

Luhan points at the pyramid. In the safety of the kitchen, Tao yelps.

 

 

"So," their manager instruct a bit nervously before the fansign they have scheduled that day. "If the fans ask for Xiumin sshi, remember to say that he's..."

"Disappeared," Baekhyun says.

" _Dead_ ," Tao hisses.

"... resting for today," the manager looks considerably more nervous now. "Let's try not to mention the mooncakes incident. It'd ruin Luhan's public image."

The manager is apparently filled of misconceptions about Luhan's public image, but no one dares to shatter his illusions. Instead, they obediently confirm that Minseok is resting - even if they differ a bit in the explanations.

"It's the flu," Kyungsoo says, making a worried face that is only half fake.

"Stomach ache. Food poisoning, probably," Baekhyun can't resist the joke.

"He's suffering from fatigue," Joonmyun tries not to make the fans worry. (He's unaware that saying it's fatigue will only make them even more worried.)

"Hay fever," Yixing says, even though hay fever season is long gone.

Tao pretends not to have heard the question. When a fan gives him a molang plushie, he occupies Minseok's vacant chair with it, eyes filled with tears.

 

 

Meanwhile, at the dorm, the remaining members are trying to figure out how to remove the mooncake mountain from their vicinities. Not only it's a scary sight, it also occupies almost the whole living room, making daily activities like watching TV impossible. Of course, the most logic way to remove it would be to slow and insistently collect them and take them elsewhere. Maybe stack them somewhere. However...

"Jongin ah," a voice emerges from the hallway when Jongin, innately a brave soul, reaches his hand out to grab the first of many mooncakes. "These are for Minseok."

Jongin freezes, his hand in the air. Luhan's face is partially covered by shadows, but his naturally creepy smile is visible.

"... but hyung," Jongin tries to justify, "I'm just gonna--"

"These are Minseok's," Luhan repeats, voice firmer and, somehow, more sinister. "Don't touch them."

"Hyung," Chanyeol rushes to the rescue from where he's sitting near the door. "Why did you bring so many?"

Luhan turns to smile to him. Chanyeol shudders. "It'd be unfair not to bring any, right?"

"Yes, but," when Chanyeol starts to sound like the reasonable one, you know the situation is dire. "Why so many?"

Instead of answering, Luhan vanishes in the darkness of the hallway.

 

 

On day two, a soft sound starts being emitted by the pyramid.

Tao can no longer sleep; he just spends the night coiled around an unconscious Kris, whining softly now and then. No one dares to get any closer than necessary to the living room. Luhan is still lurking in the shadows like a goddamn Batman villain or something.

The sound is continuous, almost inaudible, but, once you do hear it, you're unable to ignore it. Continuous, irregular, muffled , but not distant. It's there. It's in the living room. It's coming from the pyramid.

"We really should get rid of that," Joonmyun comments nervously, and Sehun and Chanyeol, who are sitting nearby, nod simultaneously. The mere presence of the mooncakes sets off a surprising amount of stress and anxiety for something so inoffensive and delicious.

"Maybe someone could distract Luhan hyung," Chanyeol suggests. "And then the rest would remove it."

Joonmyun nods. Slowly, others are joining the discussion. Jongin is crouched near the fridge. Yixing walks in timidly. Soon, all of them but Luhan and Minseok are in the kitchen, gathered around the table in a make-do emergency meeting.

"The perfect one to do it would be..." Joonmyun's face falls at his own realization. "Minseok hyung..."

Once again, Chanyeol and Sehun nod simultaneously, pouting in disappointment. "If Minseok hyung hadn't been--"

"--sacrificed to an interdimensional God," that's Tao. He has been a bit... out of himself since the previous night. The others ignore him.

"Well, anyway," Kris takes over. "We could... double-team him, or something." He snickers at himself, but no one else gets the joke. Clearing his throat in embarrassment, Kris gets serious again. "I mean, some of us distract him together. We can split the team in halves."

The following silence makes it seems that everyone finds the idea a good one. However, just when Joonmyun was about to say ‘okay, let's do that,’ Yixing speaks up.

"There's Luhan's Xiumin alarm," he says simply. And says nothing else.

And yet, everyone knows what he's talking about. There's a collective grimace of comprehension. "True," Joonmyun admits. "If we get too close to the mooncakes, he'll feel it."

The others nod, troubled and hopeless. Many of them sigh. Jongin fidgets. "Maybe," he starts off somewhat timidly. "Maybe he won't. I mean... isn't it something the fans made up?"

Most of them seem to consider Jongin's opinion valid. Some of them, however, eye him in disbelief. "Some of them" being Jongdae, who silently points at the door, brow raised in defiance. At the doorframe, peeking discreetly into the kitchen, there's Luhan, smiling at them in that remarkably Luhan way.

"I heard Minseok's name coming from here," Luhan admits, apparently ashamed for what must be the first time in a long while.

Jongin still refuses to believe it. "Where were you," Jongin deadpans.

"Downstairs," Luhan confesses.

 

 

The noise grows louder overnight. Continuous, irregular, muffled. Gradually less distant. Tao recommends everyone some horror mangas. Jongin and Sehun are unable to sleep.

 

 

They endure one more day, and then Kris, who had to deal with Tao’s constant whining for three nights in a row already, walks over to the pyramid and grabs a mooncake.

"NooooOOOOOOOOOOO," Luhan suddenly emerges from his room and tackles Kris with all his might. "THESE ARE MINSEOK'S."

"MINSEOK IS DEAD," Kris yells back, wrestling Luhan for the mooncake.

"That's an opening!" Chanyeol announces, and everyone catches the hint. They attack the pyramid ferociously, intending to destroy it. Unfortunately for them, Luhan is even more ferocious in the counter-attack.

"THESE ARE A TOKEN OF MY LOVE," Luhan screams while pulling Sehun's hair.

"YOU'RE INSANE," Kris objects from where he lies, defeated, on the floor.

"I'M A ROMANTICIST!!" He then pushes Jongin, hard, who trips over Kris' kilometric legs and starts a rather violent human domino among the brave warriors. They all fall. All, except for Kyungsoo and Jongdae, who were watching from the safety of the hallway, and Yixing, who rushes to "cure" them all after they give up and just flail their limbs on the ground. The maknaes might be crying. Chanyeol, too, might be about to cry. EXO is crumbling under the pressure of mooncakes and romance.

 

 

And the noise keeps getting louder. Continuous. Continous, and irregular. Louder and louder and louder.

 

 

After a week, a particularly emotionally straining week, Minseok emerges from the mooncake pyramid.

It happens at noon, when everyone is staring sullenly at the mountain and Luhan is guarding it like a dog. The noise is, by now, impossible to ignore; it sounds like plastic being crumpled, and wet paper being stepped on. They're all just staring at it when it happens; some of the mooncakes move all so slightly. Settle down. Move again, this time not so slightly. The maknaes start emitting a quiet, shrill, terrified sound.

Then, suddenly, there's a mooncake landslide. Luhan, the nearest to the epicenter, quickly falls victim to it, hit on several parts of his body by the flying treats. Kyungsoo is saved on the nick of time by some of his taller friends. Mooncakes fly everywhere, on the couch, on the coffee table, all over the motherfucking room. And then, as they cease to make sound and settle down once again, a head pops out from the pile. It's Minseok. Very much alive, mouth full, crumbs all over his hair and cheeks.

"HYUNG," Tao shrieks tearfully, flinging himself onto Minseok. Many follow suit. When the older ones realize it's hard to group-hug a head, they start digging around Minseok's neck so to free him. It takes a pretty long while, but, after some minutes, Minseok is free at last. Immediate group hug ensues.

"So you're not dead," Kris says, visibly relieved.

"Surprisingly, I'm not," Minseok tries to joke, but he looks tired. His mouth is still full, and he's chewing at a very reluctant pace.

Jongdae is the one who notices it. Crumbs on his lips, mouth full… "... did you eat your way out?" he asks, eyes wide in horror.

Minseok nods, eyes falling closed for a second before he swallows, making great effort. When he finally manages to swallow, he asks: "Where's Luhan?"

His voice is soft and neutral - but, at the very moment he says Luhan’s name, everyone falls silent. Slowly, the members part like the Red Sea, revealing Luhan at the base of the now destroyed pyramid, sitting on the floor with his legs partially covered in paper wrappings and little boxes. Luhan smiles like a kid who was just caught stealing a golden cookie from the cookie jar. Silence in the room.

Minseok creases his eyebrows a bit sadly. "You overdid it this time."

Luhan giggles apologetically, looking down. He's fiddling with the corner of an empty wrapping. "Sorry," he mutters.

Minseok just brushes it off. He's not mad, after all. Just a bit exhausted. "I'm gonna shower," he tells the rest of the members, stumbling a bit to the side. "Help me to eat all of this, will you? Thanks."

And that's how EXO ended up eating mooncakes as dessert for months. Luhan eats most of them, fueled by guilt. As for Minseok… it’s a long time before he looks at a mooncake in the eye again.


End file.
